As a core member of the Enteric & Diarrheal Disease (EDD) Program Strategy Team (PST), the Senior Program Officer (SPO) is responsible for the development and management of a portfolio of investments in support of our Bacterial Vaccines areas of focus: Cholera, Typhoid and Shigella. The focus of this portfolio is to support an end-to-end strategy for vaccine development, introduction and sustainable delivery, as well as burden of disease estimation and mapping, global advocacy, resource commitment and coordination to ensure health impact for these diseases globally.
- Negotiate, implement, and manage a portfolio of grants or performance-based contracts in a timely and efficient manner; including the review of letters of inquiry and grant proposals as well as providing clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding including drafting & editing proposal summaries & progress reports for existing grants for review by foundation leadership.
- Apply scientific/technical and strategic business expertise to identify, develop and manage a portfolio of strategic investments related to all aspects of our bacterial-based enteric disease portfolio (specifically Typhoid & Cholera).
- Co-leads an investment team that develops, manages and implements program strategies.
- Contribute to the design of new strategies, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
- Collaborate with, provide guidance to and/or mentor other program officers and functional team members to develop and manage related investments and sub-initiatives.
- Build and manage highly collaborative grantee and partner relationships to maximize impact of projects and ensure optimal learning. This may include: identifying and cultivating partner relationships, site visits, providing technical expertise and guidance, and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
- Attend external meetings to represent the foundation and influence global, regional and country agendas in line with global objectives.
We are looking for people who enjoy the challenge of working on complex global health problems and collaboratively creating solutions that have the potential for transformational change in the lives of people around the world. S/he must be prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise all the while being a solid team player, with a demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy and execute the work in fast-paced, challenging environment.
The ideal candidate will have 10+ years’ experience engaged in international programs with experience managing a portfolio of public health interventions; including having familiarity with the development and deployment of various products and interventions to achieve impact on the burden of infection diseases. Additionally, s/he will have:
- Knowledge of, including direct clinical research or public health experience, and/or vaccine development experience in infectious diseases; strong preference for bacterial infectious disease knowledge (e.g. Typhoid, Cholera, Shigella)
- The ability to think through a product development lens and/or collaborate effectively with clinical development partners.
- Knowledge of global health landscape; understanding of the complexities of in-country programmatic work.
- Demonstrated experience with team management; including experience developing cross-functional and diverse (e.g. culturally and professionally) teams.
- Ability to execute in a timely fashion
- Intellectual quickness, curiosity, discipline, resourcefulness and resilience.
- Strong judgment with a demonstrated ability to handle complex issues, multiple tasks, confidential information, and competing priorities with flexibility, skill, discretion, a strong attention to detail.
- Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills. You must possess excellent relationship management skills to develop trusting and productive relationships with a wide range of colleagues, dignitaries, leaders, grantees, consultants and other partners.
- Demonstrated excellence in scientific writing and data analysis, written and oral communication skills, and experience advocating and communicating with a broad and diverse audience.
- Ability to synthesize technical and business information toward strategic decision making.
- Ability to travel up to 20-25% time domestically and internationally.
- A sense of humor.
- Commitment to the Foundation’s core values of Rigor, Innovation, Collaboration and Optimism.